Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 157 The Ninja World Shakes

Hyuga Kanan concentrated his mind, fully utilizing his spiritual power to carefully perceive his surroundings for a moment. Then, without hesitation, he used the Teleportation Technique, his figure instantly transforming into a dazzling streak of light and speeding away. It turned out he had already sensed the White Zetsu's aura gradually approaching, and if he didn't escape quickly, the other party might detect his presence.

Sure enough, within just three minutes of Hyuga Kanan's departure, pale heads suddenly emerged from among the many tree trunks. However, they only peeked out briefly to observe their surroundings before quickly retreating back into the trunks, as if becoming one with the trees, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

These White Zetsu seemed oblivious to the thick stench of blood beneath their feet and the scattered limbs and corpses strewn about. Their only concern at this moment was Hyuga Kanan, who had just fled the scene. To track their target down as quickly as possible and closely monitor her every move, the White Zetsu had to race against time.

Unfortunately, this was destined to be a futile chase. Since Hyuga Kanan was able to see through their disguises and hiding methods, she naturally wouldn't give them any opportunity to get even half a step closer to her.

At the border between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire, a fierce conflict sparked by Wood Release techniques finally came to an end. This thrilling battle concluded with Hyuga Kanan slaughtering numerous ninja from various villages before making his escape. All the major ninja villages suffered heavy losses, with the Cloud Village, which instigated the conflict, bearing the brunt of the damage and incurring the most severe consequences.

Initially, the Hidden Cloud Village mobilized a massive force of approximately 500 ninjas in an attempt to capture Hyuga Kanan. However, only seven managed to escape, while the rest perished. Hyuga Kanan, with his exceptional intelligence and strength, cleverly evaded the White Zetsu's relentless pursuit, finally returning to his training grounds after several days of arduous journey.

Upon his return, Hyuga Kanan immediately went into seclusion, devoting himself entirely to studying the precious metal materials he had collected during his expedition. These materials were crucial for his understanding of the power of the metal element, so he was completely focused and single-minded, disregarding the potential uproar his actions might cause. At this moment, he had only one belief in his mind: to dedicate himself to exploring the mysteries of the metal element and master this powerful force as soon as possible.

During Hyuga Kanan's secluded training, time slipped by unnoticed. Meanwhile, the ninjas from various villages who had escaped the fierce battle began their journeys home, bringing the astonishing news back to their respective villages. This news was like a bombshell, causing a huge uproar.

Each ninja village immediately dispatched a group of elite ninjas to the battlefield to conduct an in-depth investigation and verify the rumors. After all, the ninjas sent on this mission were all top-tier fighters from their villages, possessing exceptional strength. They found it hard to believe that such a powerful force could be so easily wiped out in a sudden conflict.

However, when the ninjas from various villages arrived at their destination and conducted a thorough investigation of the scene, the exact conclusion they reached was astonishing—the intelligence was absolutely true! This fact shocked the entire ninja world like a thunderbolt, causing an uproar and a cacophony of opinions.

The major ninja villages reacted swiftly, dispatching delegations to Konoha to demand an explanation and account of the matter. The situation grew increasingly tense, and a storm was brewing.

Konoha Village is now in complete chaos and utter disarray. Earlier, Hiruzen Sarutobi had suggested that Danzo Shimura send Root ninja to provide support, but shockingly, not a single one returned! This meant the village was receiving no information about the outside world. It wasn't until other ninja villages sent out intelligence that they learned that almost all the ninja they had dispatched on this mission had been wiped out.

Faced with questioning and demands for accountability from other ninja villages, Konoha was at a loss, unsure how to explain the situation. At this moment, Konoha had just begun to recover from a fierce war and was in the midst of a difficult post-war recovery period. The village's strength had not yet fully recovered, and its people had not yet emerged from the shadow of war. Now, facing accusations from almost every ninja village in the entire ninja world, the village was plunged into extreme panic, as if a new round of war could reignite at any moment.

Minato Namikaze was completely unaware of this matter. He never expected that the Root ninjas sent by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura never intended to bring the Wood Release ninja back to Konoha. Their only orders were to hunt down this mysterious Wood Release ninja from the outside world. Now that none of them have returned to Konoha, it undoubtedly means that all of these Root ninjas have been wiped out.

An even more serious problem was that the ninjas of Konoha dared to attack this mysterious Wood Release ninja. This meant that the ninja would likely become a deadly enemy of Konoha. Only after the delegations from various ninja villages arrived in Konoha and exchanged information did the village realize with astonishment that this person not only possessed the powerful Wood Release bloodline limit, but also had eyes belonging to the renowned Byakugan of the Hyuga clan!

After careful observation, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others were astonished to find that the person before them, in terms of appearance, physique, and temperament, closely matched the Hyuga Kanan they remembered. Especially those distinctive eyes—they were practically identical.

These Konoha high-ranking officials were well aware of Hyuga Kanan's strength. Now, he not only possessed his original exceptional power but had also obtained an even more powerful Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, undoubtedly greatly enhancing his abilities. Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

However, his regret wasn't about expelling Hyuga Kanan from Konoha, but rather about rashly sending ninjas to confront him without sufficient intelligence. Those in Konoha's leadership who understood Hyuga Kanan's character knew perfectly well that he wouldn't easily acknowledge ninjas from other villages unless provoked. Yet, Kumogakure was the first to attack Hyuga Kanan, subsequently drawing ninjas from numerous other villages to besiege him. Under these circumstances, it's no surprise that Hyuga Kanan retaliated fiercely and went on a killing spree.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly. If he had done a better job with intelligence gathering, perhaps this crisis could have been avoided. However, what's done is done, and further regret was useless. They could only try to deal with the current situation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's first thought was to go to the Hyuga clan and find out Hyuga Kanan's whereabouts after leaving Konoha. He planned to then send people to communicate with him, clearing up the misunderstanding caused by the conflict between Konoha's dispatched ninja and the clan, while also shifting the pressure from other ninja villages onto Kanan. Unfortunately, none of the Hyuga clan's high-ranking members knew anything about Kanan's whereabouts after leaving Konoha. Whether they genuinely didn't know or were unwilling to tell the Konoha leadership, the fact remained that they hadn't obtained his whereabouts.

In a secluded conference room, all of Konoha's high-ranking officials had reconvened. Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke first, explaining the reason for this secret meeting, while the other Konoha leaders listened quietly to the information he had gathered. After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished his detailed explanation, everyone turned their attention to Nara Shikaku, renowned for his high intelligence, hoping he could provide a perfect solution to the pressure exerted on Konoha by the other ninja villages.

Nara Shikaku's expression turned serious as he watched the silent meeting room fall silent. His mind raced, rapidly considering the situation Konoha was facing. Almost every ninja village in the ninja world had lost countless ninja in the last conflict, and the Wood Release and Byakugan used by the opposing side bore distinct Konoha characteristics. It was perfectly normal for them to come to Konoha to demand accountability. However, he knew that these ninja villages didn't need compensation from Konoha; their sole objective was to force Konoha to hand over the powerful Hyuga Kanan, or at the very least, to have Konoha execute him.

However, the current situation is that Hyuga Kanan has not returned to Konoha, and according to Hiruzen Sarutobi's description, Hyuga Kanan is not someone who would willingly sacrifice himself for Konoha. Most importantly, his strength is terrifying, and even Konoha is not confident that they can capture him.

However, there is still some very important information revealed by Hiruzen Sarutobi: Hyuga Kanan is the kind of person who will completely ignore and pay no attention to Konoha as long as he is not bothered, so this can be taken advantage of.

Nara Shikaku snapped out of his reverie and addressed everyone present: "I need to confirm one thing now: is Hyuga Kanan's personality really as the Hokage described? I need the most honest answer, as it relates to my future plans!"

Upon hearing Nara Shikaku's words, everyone who had been in contact with Hyuga Kanan fell into thought. Subsequently, everyone, including Sarutobi Hiruzen, was somewhat uncertain and turned their gaze to Hyuga Hiashi, who was sitting at the farthest point. After all, Hyuga Kanan was a member of the Hyuga clan, and Hyuga Hiashi, as the head of the Hyuga clan, should be able to confirm it.

Hiashi Hyuga, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under the intense gazes, stretched his body. As long as the Hyuga clan remained in Konoha, they had to answer this question. Under immense pressure, Hiashi finally spoke, expressing his agreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi's description of Kanan's personality.

Having received a definitive answer, Nara Shikaku began devising a plan. The plan was simple and straightforward: Konoha would publicly declare Hyuga Kanan a rogue ninja. After all, over a decade ago, Hyuga Kanan had left Konoha without any prior notice, so declaring him a defector was justifiable. Konoha only needed to conceal the fact that he had returned to the village a few years prior.

The people present nodded slightly in agreement, since Hyuga Kanan was indeed not currently in Konoha.